Fascination
by Juliet Norrington
Summary: Elphaba character study. 'Perhaps Miss Galinda’s appearance fascinates me so because it is everything I am not...'
1. I

_This is the first half of a character study of Elphaba- internal dialogue. I'm not sure how well I've done with her... she's a hard character to get a sense of. Written with a Glinda/Elphaba theme in mind, though it can be seen in many different ways._

-I-

Galinda always sleeps on her stomach, her head turned sideways and arms curled around her. Only her legs move. Sometimes they lay flat, one beside another. Sometimes one is curled around the other. Sometimes they are bent towards her back in a way I cannot see as comfortable. No matter her leg position, or anything for that matter, Galinda always manages to look attractive. How she achieves it I shall never guess, nor will I ask her for I'm sure she'd put on airs and refuse to admit she knows anything about it.

I'm no stranger to beauty, but Nessa had her unattractive moments. Even after Galinda has disturbed or demolished every nerve I have, I can still find little fault with her face, her tiny little body, her glossy, golden curls. This somehow disturbs me. So does the fact that I cannot seem to keep from looking at her. Over my books, around corners, and while she sleeps. Always while she sleeps.

And her _clothes_! I'm both amused and jealous of the sheer frivolity of it all. Lace, frills, pastels, buttons, hoops, skirts; how can a person so small wear so much and not look in the least weighed down? Everything is so outrageously girly, and yet she pulls it off so well. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wish I could wear clothes like that, even after seeing the length of time it takes to get dressed in the morning. I honestly don't know how she can get to class in time and still look the way she does.

Perhaps Miss Galinda's appearance fascinates me so because it is everything I am not (petite, pretty, blond, and girly) and I am fascinated by anything that is so unlike myself. Perhaps it is so, and that is what I tell myself when I catch myself falling back a few steps just to watch her walk, when I find myself touching one of her gowns instead of reaching for my own dress. But at night when she's asleep and I can watch her without fear of her seeing what I'm doing, I know it's a lie.


	2. II

_Second half of the character study; interaction between Elphaba and Galinda, set the night after the Poetry reading. Again written with a Galinda/Elphaba mind set, though can be read as a friendship piece. Meant to be a simple deleted scene- not really a point except to get characterization down._

-II-

Galinda's irritated tonight; her head is turned away from me and her legs are twisted this way and that. I suppose she has reason to be; it was the first time I've approached her in public and she certainly looked mortified. Master Boq didn't seem to have improved her spirits after I left, for when she returned she huffed herself into bed and spent longer than usual to fall asleep. He hadn't left much of an impression on me either; though I may not have been so hard on him if I he hadn't barged in just as I was attempting to get something real out of her. She has a brain under that thimble-headed exterior and I _shall_ fish it out, come what may. She rolls onto her side, eyelids fluttering and I close my eyes.

"Miss Elphaba, I am cold." She announces. I ignore her; if she wants to wake me she'll have to do better than that. "Miss Elphaba, wake up!" She says in a louder voice.

I rub my eyes and open them, "What?" I mumble.

"I'm cold." She says pointedly, her large blue eyes glancing to the fire and back to me.

"So?" I reply.

"So," she sits up halfway, the cover still pulled over her shoulder, "so..."

"Stoke the fire yourself," I say, and roll over.

"Oh _honestly_," she sniffs, and I hear her getting out of bed. Her footsteps so light on the ground, and finally her poking around in the small fireplace.

"It's about time you changed your comforter anyway." I tell her. "That pink monstrosity may be good enough for fall but you'll have a time of it trying to keep warm this winter."

She silently pads back to her bed, "I'll let Ama Clutch know," she says quietly, then adds in a more confident voice, "I'm certain she's simply forgotten to send for it."

She hasn't. Two weeks ago I heard Ama Clutch telling her she was going send for her goose feather comforter. Galinda had refused, saying she would bring it back with her after winter break, then ran off with Shenshen and Pfannee. Ama Clutch had clucked and shook her head, saying winter was coming on soon and a silly looking comforter was no reason to freeze to death.

"It's take at least three weeks to get here and it's only a month till winter break. You may as well buy a new one here for the remaining time here." I roll back over to look at her. "I'm sure you have enough money."

She is silent for a moment, "Mama wouldn't like it." She finally admits, not looking at me. "My winter comforter was hers before mine, and her mother's before hers. Mama and Grandmama would be offended if..." she drifts off.

"I see." She lays huddled in a fetus position on her side. It's so strange and different that I feel slightly unnerved. Finally I get up and pull my extra wool blanket out from under my bed. I place it over her and walk back to bed.

I'm nearly asleep when a soft, "Thank you," reaches my ears.


End file.
